Combined container and toy building block



March 17, 1953 H. R. STOLTE COMBINED CONTAINER AND TOY BUILDING BLox Filed Dec. 28, 1948 I N VEN TOR. Harvey R. si'oli'e BY JMwMXm ATTORNE YS Patented Mar. 17, 1953 COMBINED CONTAINER BLOCK AND TOY BUILDING Harvey a. Stolte, mummy, Md. Application December 28, 1948, Serial No. 67,717,

1 Claim; (Cl. 215-) This invention relates to containers, and more particularly to containers which are particularly suitable for merchandising foodstuffs of A the character commonly'use-d in the feeding of small children. w I a It is an object of this invention to provide a container as just referred to which is of improved construction so that after it hasserved its pur= poseas a container forfood it may be used as a toy building block.

Another object of this invention is to provide a container as .referred to which is of improved construction which facilitates erection when used as a toy building 'blockandwhich at the-same time facilitates stacking for purposes of transportation, storage, display, etc.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved container as hereinabove referred to which does not interfere with the making of proper airtightseals when the container is to serve its purposeas a container for food.

Other objects will appear as the description of the invention proceeds.

The invention is cap-able of receiving a variety of mechanical expressions one of which has been illustrated on the accompanying drawing, but it is to be expressly understood that the drawing is for purposes of illustration only, and is not to be construed as a definition of the limits of the invention, reference being had to the appended claim for that purpose.

Referring in detail to the accompanyin drawing, wherein the same reference characters are used to designate corresponding parts in the several figures,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the improved container with a part of its outer wall broken away;

Fig. 2 illustrates how the containers may be stacked when used either as food containers or as toy building blocks; and

Fig. 3 is a cross section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

The container has a hollow body [0 that is polygonal in horizontal sections. In the form shown, the body In comprises four side walls H, a top l2 and a base I 3 which together, except for the collar hereinafter referred to, approximate a cube, having six right angularly disposed faces. While the body in planes parallel to its base is shown as square in cross section as preferred, as is usual with toy building blocks, other polygonal cross sections may be used to provide blocks of more than four side walls.

Internally said container has a chamber 14 which'in cross sectionin planes parallel tothe base of thecontainer preferably has the same contour as the exterior of the container, i. e., the chamber is square in cross section so that the side walls thereof are of approximately equal thickness throughout.

The top wall I 5 lies in a plane at right angles to theiside walls II except that, centrally arranged thereon, is an upstanding circular collar 16 constructed in any suitable way so as to receive an airtight closure member [1. As illustrated, said collar I6 is shown as provided with an overhanging taperedfiange 18 such as conventionally used on "glassjars when a metal closure member isto be sealed therearound, but as will be apparent-to-those skilled in the art if a threaded closure member is preferred the collar t6 may be appropriately threaded to receive the same.

The bottom 13 of the container has its outer surface!!! in a plane atright angles to the side walls I I, and it is made thicker than the top and side walls so as to receivea recess 20 opening from the bottom of the container and leaving an intermediate partition 2| constituting the bottom wall of the chamber M. Recess 2-0 is of such cross section that it slidingly receives, as a loose fit, the upstanding neck t6 and closur member H on another container of like construction when two containers are stacked together as shown at 22 in Fig. 2. Recess l-B may be circular in cross section as shown in Fig. 3, conforming with the contour of the collar t6, but other contours having straight sides tangent to the periphery of the neck It with its closure member I! may be used with like effect if it is desired to lighten the construction by having less material in the bottom 13. Thus the recess may be square in cross section, its sides being extensions of the side walls of the chamber I4 as shown at 23 in Fig. 1, the transverse dimensions of the recess approximating the diameter of the collar Hi with its closure member [1.

The side walls of the container may be provided with letters as shown at 2 4, or pictorial illustrations of articles as shown at .25, or both, as is conventional in the case of toy building blocks where the same blocks on different sides for example may carry a capital A and a picture of an apple, etc.

The container may be made of any suitable material such as would be appropriate for the foodstuff to be packed and for subsequent use as a building block. To avoid breakage and injury to children while playing with the blocks, readily frangible materials should be avoided. Synthetic resin products are preferable because, when desired, the walls of the blocks may be made transparent to show the content of the chamber i4 when serving its purpose as a food container, while such products facilitate construction because of their ready moldabili ty.

The chamber l 4 may be readily filled With any suitable foodstuff, such as commonly used by small children, after which the'container may be sealed at the factory by proper application of the closure member [1. When assembled for transportation, storage, etc, the polygonalcross section of the containers facilitates compact assembly, while the recesses 20 in the bottom of each container, guidingly receivingtheclosed top of another container, as .shownat 22 in Fig. 2, facilitate assembly in vertical directions. This construction also enables the containersito' be readily stacked on shelves, in show Windows, etc., because the interlocking:relationship established between the recessedbottoms and collared tops of contiguous. containers when stacked provides aparticularly-stable arrangement.

In the hands of the consumer the closure member I! may be readily removed, and. after the content of the container is used, a light, strong toy building block is left which has the advantage that when the blocks are placed one on another as'shown at-26 in Fig. 2 the collars l6-are guidingly receivedin-the recesses 26 with only slight play, providing stabilityfor the erec tion.

It-will therefore be perceived that the present invention provides. a. polygonal. container for foodstuifs whichwhen emptied-becomes. an advantageous toy building block. The container isof sucnconstruction that both when used as a container and as a toy building block stacks formedthereof .have particular stability. At the same time the construction is such that there is no interference with. theusual airtight sealing of the containers when the same is used for foodstuffs. The container can also be readily made of moldable material that is light and strong and safe for children to. play with.

While the embodiment of the invention illus trated onthe drawing has been describedwith considerable particularity, it is to be expressly understood thattheinvention is not to be limited thereto, as the same. is capable of receiving a variety of. mechanical expressions as will now be apparenttothose. skilledin the art from the foregoing explanation. Changes may be made in the details of construction, arrangement, shape, material, sizes, dimensions, etc., without departing from the spirit of this invention. Reference is therefore to be had to the claim hereto appended for a definition of said invention.

What is claimed is:

In a combined container and block, a substantially' rectangular hollow body provided with parallel horizontal upper and lower walls, said upper wall being provided with a circular opening defined centrally thereof affording communication with'the hollow interior of the block and of slightly less diameter than the Width of said body, an upstanding cylindrical collar disposed about the periphery of said opening and extending anappreciabledistance upwardly therefrom, the balance of the upper Wall of said body constituting a horizontal and rectilinear shoulder surrounding said c-ollar,'.a peripheral wall extending. downwardlyfan: appreciable: distance. below the. lower walloff. the hollow body forming a cylindrical baserecess and a rectilinear shoulder surrounding said base recess, an outwardly extending beveled flange disposed about the outer upper periphery. ofsaid collar, a cover fitted over said flange to provide a relatively close'fit between the. outer periphery. thereof and the interiorwall of the cylindrical base recess of a-superimposed container, whereby a series of said containers may be readily nested by inserting the collar'of a'loWer container into the base recess of a superimposed container and registering said rectilinearperipheral shoulders.

HARVEY R. STOLTE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are'of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 769,171 Kray Sept. 6, 1904 769,615 Kosanvich Sept. 6, 1904 880,082 Kendrick Feb. 25, 1908 1,737,744 Wicklein Dec. 3, 1929 2,463,701 Krueger Mar. 8, 1949 2,471,565 Glocker May 31, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 481,787 Great Britain Mar. 17, 1938 

